The 6th BMW Welt Jazz Award under the motto “A sense of humour”. Opening matinees on 19 and 26 January 2014 featuring ensembles from New York and Norway at the BMW Welt Double Cone.

Munich. The BMW Welt Jazz Award will be kicking off its 6th season to date on 19 and 26 January 2014. In a series of concerts running to March 2014, the six featured high-calibre international ensembles will be emphasising the comic side of jazz true to the motto “A sense of humour”, performing a light and eclectic mix of styles and genres rooted in a long-standing musical tradition. A panel of experts will pick two of the combos to vie for first prize in the finals on 3 May 2014 in the auditorium. This year the BMW Welt Jazz Award will be welcoming musicians from Norway, the US, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. 

The first of the six Sunday matinees, featuring the New York-based quartet Mostly Other People Do the Killing, will be held on 19 January 2014. Bassist Moppa Elliott, trumpeter Peter Evans, saxophonist Jon Irabagon and drummer Kevin Shea enjoy in deconstructing traditional jazz in every way they can. In concert they patch together very quirky and allusive soundscapes out of individual musical set pieces. This uncompromisingly comedic jazz, which always steers clear of the commercial mainstream, has garnered a great many awards, including first place in the international Down Beat critics’ survey in the category “Rising Stars”. 

The 2nd matinee on 26 January 2014 will feature Stian Carstensen’s Farmers Market, a Norwegian free folk jazz band who made a name for themselves in the scene back in the early ’90s with their witty renditions of old and well-known numbers. From Beethoven to Coltrane and on to Abba, and using a whole slew of different instruments – frontman Stian Carstensen alone plays accordion, flute kaval flute, Fender guitar, pedal steel guitar and electric sitar – Farmers Market take us on a most unusual ride through music history. Carstensen is backed up by saxophonist Trifon Trifonov, drummer Jarle Vespestad, clarinettist Filip Simeonov, guitarist/vocalist Nils-Olav Johansen and bassist Finn Guttormsen. 

BMW Welt Jazz Award 2014 concert calendar 

Matinee competition rounds 11 am to about 1.30 pm (at BMW Welt Double Cone): 

19 January 2014          Mostly Other People Do the Killing

26 January 2014          Stian Carstensen’s Farmers Market

16 February 2014         Echoes of Swing

23 February 2014         Tin Men and the Telephone

9 March 2014               Hildegard Lernt Fliegen

16 March 2014             David Helbock’s Random/Control 

Doors open at 10.30 am, admission is free of charge, but capacity is limited so seating cannot be guaranteed. 

After the 6th and last matinee round, a panel of experts will pick two ensembles to vie for 1st prize in the grand finale, a big closing concert to be held on 3 May in the Auditorium. The BMW Welt Jazz Award prize money amounts to €15,000, with €10,000 going to the winners and €5,000 to the runners-up. The victors will also receive a trophy specially designed by BMW Design. In addition, the ensemble that gets the best average marks from the crowd over the course of all six concerts will win the audience award and an exclusive stay at Schloss Elmau. 

Finale in the BMW Welt Auditorium:        

3 May 2014, 7 pm    

Tickets for the finale will be on sale at BMW Welt and München Ticket starting 19 January 2014. 

Panel 

The first-rate panel of experts will be chaired by Oliver Hochkeppel (music and arts journalist for the Süddeutsche Zeitung). Its other members are:

Roland Spiegel, music editor specializing in jazz at Bayerischer Rundfunk (Bavarian public radio), BR-KLASSIK

Andreas Kolb, editor-in-chief of JazzZeitung and neue musikzeitung

Heike Lies, musicologist, Music and Music Theatre Division of the Munich Cultural Affairs Department 

Christiane Böhnke-Geisse, artistic director at the Jazzclub Unterfahrt, Munich

The sponsors for this year’s BMW Welt Jazz Awards once again include BR-KLASSIK, JazzZeitung, Kaufhaus Beck, Schloss Elmau and the Munich Cultural Affairs Department. 

Photographic material is available from the BMW PressClub (www.press.bmwgroup.com)

For further questions please contact: 

Dr. Thomas Girst

BMW Group Corporate and Intergovernmental Affairs

Head of Cultural Engagement

Telephone: +49 89-382-24753 

Leonie Laskowski

BMW Group Corporate and Intergovernmental Affairs

Cultural Engagement

Telephone: +49-89-382-45382

Daria Gotto-Nikitina

BMW Group Corporate and Intergovernmental Affairs

Spokesperson Marketing and BMW Welt

Telephone: +49-89-382-60340

Internet: www.press.bmwgroup.com, Email: mailto:presse@bmw.de

For questions regarding the BMW Welt programme of events please contact

Gabriele Weber

Head of Brand Experience at BMW Welt

Telephone: +49-89-382-57521

About BMW’s Cultural Commitment

For more than 40 years now, the BMW Group has initiated and engaged in over 100 cultural cooperations worldwide. The company places the main focus of its long-term commitment on modern and contemporary art, jazz and classical music as well as architecture and design. In 1972, three large-scale paintings were created by the artist Gerhard Richter specifically for the foyer of the BMW Group's Munich headquarters. Since then, artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Olafur Eliasson, Jeff Koons, Zubin Metha, Daniel Barenboim and Anna Netrebko have co-operated with BMW. The company has also commissioned famous architects such as Karl Schwanzer, Zaha Hadid and Coop Himmelb(l)au to design important corporate buildings and plants. In 2011, the BMW Guggenheim Lab, a global initiative of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, the Guggenheim Museum and the BMW Group celebrated its world premiere in New York. The BMW Group takes absolute creative freedom in all the cultural activities it is involved in for granted – as this is just as essential for groundbreaking artistic work as it is for major innovations in a successful business. 

Further information: www.bmwgroup.com/culture and www.bmwgroup.com/culture/overview 

BMW Welt – at the heart of the brand, on the pulse of the city

With around 2.5 million visitors each year, BMW Welt in Munich is Bavaria's most popular attraction and has become a real magnet for visitors since its opening in 2007. With its pioneering architecture, BMW Welt is the heart of all the brands in the BMW Group – BMW, the sub-brands BMW M and BMW i, MINI, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and BMW Motorrad, which are impressively presented in their own worlds of experience. But it is not only the exhibitions and the collection of new vehicles that are highlights for car lovers from all over the world. Visitors can enjoy a year-round programme of varied events covering culture, art and entertainment along with culinary delights in several restaurants. Whether it's a jazz concert, poetry slam, clubbing, improv theatre, family Sundays, a film première, gala event or panel discussion – BMW Welt is the perfect platform for innovative events with a capacity for up to 2,500 guests. In the BMW Welt Junior Campus, children and youngsters can enjoy exciting guided tours and workshops on the themes of mobility and sustainability. 

The BMW Group

The BMW Group is the leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles in the world with its BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brands. As a global company, the BMW Group operates 28 production and assembly facilities in 13 countries and has a global sales network in more than 140 countries. 

In 2012, the BMW Group sold about 1.85 million cars and more than 117,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax for the financial year 2012 was euro 7.82 billion on revenues amounting to euro 76.85 billion. At 31 December 2012, the BMW Group had a workforce of 105,876 employees. 

The success of the BMW Group has always been built on long-term thinking and responsible action. The company has therefore established ecological and social sustainability throughout the value chain, comprehensive product responsibility and a clear commitment to conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy. 

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